Anime
In July 2010, an anime television series was green-lit by TMS Entertainment under the directorial supervision of Hatsuki Tsuji. Music is composed by Takayuki Negishi with character designs provided by Mari Tominaga. The series began airing in Japan on TV Aichi beginning on January 8, 2011, and rebroadcast by AT-X, TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Setouchi systems. The media-streaming websitePlot
Original era
Season 1 Aichi Sendou, the protagonist of the show, is a timid young boy in his third year of junior high school. The one thing that keeps him going is his trading card ''Blaster Blade'' from ''Cardfight!! Vanguard'', a trading card game that takes place on a different planet called "Cray" and is popular throughout the world. When Aichi's ''Blaster Blade'' is stolen by his classmate Katsumi Morikawa, he chases him to a local card shop named Card Capital. There, Aichi has his first cardfight with Toshiki Kai, an aloof and cold-hearted high schooler who has outstanding abilities and who originally gave Aichi his ''Blaster Blade'' when Aichi was little. Aichi wins the fight, reclaiming ''Blaster Blade'', and begins to enjoy a fulfilling life as he delves deeper into ''Vanguard''. Aichi's primary goal throughout the series is to become a stronger fighter, so he can once again battle Kai and have him recognize his worth. Aichi eventually places high enough at a local tournament to join with Kai, Misaki Tokura, and Kamui Katsuragi to form Team Quadrifoglio ("Q4" for short). Together, they enter regional and national tournaments to test their skills against fighters from all over Japan. Aichi's principal rival becomes Ren Suzugamori, a powerful but despicable cardfighter who is the leader of the reigning national champion team. Ren eventually makes Aichi awaken a power that Ren also possesses: Psyqualia, a psychic-like ability that lets its user foresee victory in cardfights. However, Aichi's usage of Psyqualia slowly distorts him into becoming a dark person like Ren. Thanks to Kai's efforts, Aichi decides to no longer use Psyqualia and reverts to his normal self. When Aichi battles Ren at the finals of the national championships, it is revealed that Cray is real, and Psyqualia is the power given to those who will determine Cray's future. Aichi manages to reconcile his good-natured personality with his dark desires to become stronger. Simultaneously on Cray, the Royal Paladin characters depicted in Aichi's cards resolve their conflict with Ren's Shadow Paladins. Aichi defeats Ren, and Team Q4 becomes the national champions of Japan. The season concludes with Aichi's Psyqualia mysteriously vanishing and Kai fulfilling Aichi's wish to cardfight him again. Season 2: Asia Circuit Shortly after Q4 wins the national tournament, a strange phenomenon occurs when Aichi meets a young boy named Takuto Tatsunagi. The Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, and Kagero clans of ''Vanguard'' have been wiped from existence, and due to this, Aichi's Royal Paladin deck has been changed to Gold Paladin. Aichi reunites with Q4 (excluding Kai) and travels across Asia to participate in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, an invitational multi-stage tournament featuring the world's best cardfighters, for the opportunity to meet and seek answers from the sponsor, Takuto. Throughout the circuit, Aichi, whose Psyqualia has reactivated, encounters a mix of familiar friends and new rivals. One noteworthy rival is Team Dreadnought's Leon Soryu, a man possessing Psyqualia who is on a mission to lead the second coming of both his family and the long-lost Aqua Force clan. After losing at the Singapore, Seoul, and Hong Kong Stages of the VF Circuit, Q4 finally manages to win the Japan Stage and meet with Takuto, who reveals that a dark entity known as Void is currently threatening the planet Cray. Furthermore, Leon is exposed as having made an alliance with Void, allowing the three clans to be sealed away in exchange for Void's promise to return Aqua Force to power. In a final confrontation, Aichi defeats Leon, who had absorbed Void's power. With a reformed Leon's help, Aichi uses his Gold Paladins to drive Void out of Cray and subsequently free the captured clans. The VF Circuit concludes with Q4 crowned as the winning team. Afterward, life returns to normal, except that Aichi now has a new deck featuring his signature Royal Paladin units as Gold Paladins. Season 3: Link Joker Months have passed after the VF Circuit, and the members of Team Q4 have drifted apart. Aichi enters his first year of high school at Miyaji Academy, where the instructors and students focus on looking towards the future and studying. Aichi thinks ''Vanguard'' can be a future that people can believe in, and he tries to establish a Cardfight Club on campus. Despite the interference of the Student Council, he manages to recruit the requisite five members for the club: Kourin Tatsunagi, Naoki Ishida, Shingo Komoi, and Misaki, who is also a Miyaji Academy student but was reluctant to join the club. During Aichi's inaugural appearance at the VF High School Championship, his team defeats Kai's team but loses to Ren's team. Kai remarks on how much stronger both Aichi and Ren have become. The second major story arc of the season revolves around an extraterrestrial entity called "Link Joker", the clan which is the avatar of Void. Various fighters become corrupted by Void's power and turn into "Reversed" fighters driven to seek out stronger opponents and bring them under Void's influence. Kai visits Takuto to seek answers, and in a moment of weakness while cardfighting the Reversed Takuto, he allows himself to become Reversed in exchange for additional power. More and more cardfighters around the world become Reversed, including several of Aichi's friends. Although Ren and Leon manage to fend off and free their respective comrades from Reverse, Aichi is unaware of what is happening until he sees Reversed Takuto announcing the end of the world. At first hesitant to face his Reversed friends, especially Kai, Aichi eventually resolves himself to fight them to save the world. After many battles, Aichi and his friends emerge victorious over Link Joker, but at the cost of losing the original Takuto. Moreover, Aichi faces Kai in one last fight to decide the strongest fighter. In the end, Aichi wins after Kai realizes what a true friend Aichi has been for him. Season 4: Legion Mate Several days after the mortal battle against Link Joker, life seems to have returned to normal. However, Aichi Sendou, the hero who saved the earth from the invasion of Link Joker and Void, has disappeared, and Kai, his closest friend ("mate"), seems to be the only person who remembers him. After receiving a Royal Paladin deck containing a new version of Aichi's avatar card ''Blaster Blade'', Kai sets out not only to remind everyone about Aichi but also find him. Kai manages to gather other comrades who remember Aichi: Naoki, Misaki, his classmate Miwa, and Kamui. However, Kai realizes that Kourin is also missing. His investigation leads to the discovery of four magically gifted cardfighters called the Quatre Knights: Olivier Gaillard, Phillip Neve, Rati Curti, and Raul Serra, who intend to stop anyone finding Aichi. Ren gives Kai a tip to Aichi's location where he discovers that Kourin is allied with the Quatre Knights, and Aichi was behind both the memory loss and the Quatre Knights. Kourin defeats Kai using her Link Joker deck and takes ''Blaster Blade''. During training with Leon, Kai gains new resolve and returns to using a Kagero deck. Naoki spies Serra's butler Morris entering a portal leading to a sanctuary on the moon where Aichi is located. Kai and his friends are confronted by Serra when they enter the sanctuary. They learn that in order to awaken Aichi they must defeat the four Quatre knights to break the four seals, but if they lose in the sanctuary they lose their memories of Aichi. Naoki defeats Serra, but Misaki, Kamui, and Miwa all lose to the three other Knights. With only Kai and Naoki remaining, Kai battles Gaillard, who blames Kai for the Link Joker incident and will not allow him to free Aichi because of it. Despite this, Kai defeats Gaillard, releasing the second seal. Suddenly, Serra arrives and uses his ice magic to imprison Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard. It is then that Gaillard reveals the truth; a Link Joker "seed" was implanted inside Aichi's body after he defeated Reversed Takuto. To contain the seed, Aichi now wants to seal himself away in the sanctuary with the Quatre Knights as his guardians. However, Serra reveals that his plan all along was to use Kai and his friends to weaken the seals, release the seed within Aichi, and obtain its power all for himself. Ren and Leon arrive and free Kai, Gaillard, and Naoki, but not before Serra has Neve fight Aichi while he battles Rati, releasing the remaining seals. Having discovered the meaning of "mates" thanks to Kai and Aichi, Gaillard finds new resolve and defeats Serra, stripping him of his powers and banishing him from the sanctuary. With Serra gone, Gaillard resets his sights towards Kai and fights him again. Kai defeats Gaillard again and then faces Aichi for a final battle. After Kai makes Aichi realize that sealing himself away was wrong, Kai defeats him. The Link Joker seed then tries to implant itself into Kai's body but is then broken apart by ''Blaster Blade''. Nevertheless, the shattered pieces of the seed enter the bodies of each of Aichi's friends and will grow benign over time. Afterwards, Aichi, Kai, and the rest of their friends return to their normal lives. Aichi and Kai face each other in one last shop tournament, and despite the different paths they will take in the future, they know they will meet again as long as they keep playing Vanguard. G Season 1 Set 3 years later after the events of Legion Mate, the story follows Chrono Shindou, an apathetic teenager who finds a Vanguard deck and a map in his school locker one day. Following the map, he is led to Card Capital 2, a card shop where he meets Kamui Katsuragi who works part-time there. After being taught how to play Vanguard and winning his first fight against Kamui, Chrono begins his venture in the world of Vanguard. Chrono finds Vanguard enjoyable, so he decides to return to Card Capital 2, where he takes up a quest and becomes a Grade 1 fighter. Then, he meets and fights Kouji Ibuki, who reveals that Chrono is and always has been completely alone. As a result, Ibuki crushes Chrono with no difficulty and refuses to even tell Chrono his name until Chrono becomes stronger. Over the next few days, Chrono meets and befriends Shion Kiba and Tokoha Anjou. Chrono also makes an acquaintance of Mamoru Anjou, the Kagero clan leader, and Jaime Alcaraz, the Spanish ace of the European League. FIVA is holding a national tournament, and the only one not fired up is Tokoha. Being the younger sister of Mamoru, she is tired of being forced to live up to her brother's legacy. Meanwhile, Chrono is trying to get to Grade 3 so he can enter the tournament. In the end, Chrono, Shion, and Tokoha form Team TRY3 and enter the National Tournament together. At the regional qualifier, Team TRY3 fights Team Demise. They ultimately turn out to be a formidable foe. Chrono beats their first fighter with no problems. Unfortunately, Shion and Tokoha ultimately lose in the second two games. In the aftermath of their defeat, Chrono's aunt discovers Chrono's new hobby and reveals the truth behind the disappearance of his father. Team TRY3 visits the United Sanctuary branch, seeking a rematch with Team Demise. They find that the United Sanctuary branch is turning fighters into people obsessed with victory, and challenge the Branch leader over the management of the United Sanctuary branch. G Season 2: GIRS Crisis This autumn will mark the opening of a major event organised by the Federation of International Vanguard Associations (FIVA), known as the "G Quest". Those who conquer the 6 Branch Quests will be honored with the title "Generation Master", and the chance to become a Clan Leader. The three members of TRY3 are all fired up by the new goal ahead of them, but behind the scenes, a massive plot that would lead to the destruction of Vanguard has been set in motion... G Season 3: Stride Gate Kouji Ibuki's Plan G is in effect, and they have located Ryuzu Myoujin's headquarters. It's up to Team TRY3 and their friends to stop Ryuzu's ambitions! However, Ryuzu has a defense force called the "Company", whose members include rival Shouma Shinonome and Am Chouno! What will happen to Luna Yumizuki after she was recognized as having more Stride Force than Am did? What will happen to Zodiac Time Beast if the Stride Gate will open? Will Vanguard be led to a perfect future? The fight to save the Zodiac Time Beasts and Vanguard itself! The second part of Plan G is now in action! G Season 4: NEXT Five months have passed after Team TRY3's battle against the company and the team decided to split up and go their separate ways with all three of them enrolling to different high schools. The story focuses on Chrono Shindou transferring to Tokyo Metropolitan Harumi High School. Chrono forms a new team with Taiyou Asukawa and Kazuma Shouji, a gloomy boy who attends the same school as Chrono. Shion and Tokoha have formed their own teams as well. What new challenges await Chrono in the aftermath of all these changes? G Season 5: Z The final season of the G Series. A group of six units from Planet Cray, called the "Apostles", have invaded Earth. Armed with the power of the six Zeroth Dragons, the Apostles aim to revive the sealed Dragon Deity of Destruction, Gyze who attempted to destroy Cray in the past. The final battle between the Vanguards and the Dragon Deity of Destruction begins.V era
V series Season 1: A reboot of the original Cardfight Vanguard with Aichi Sendou, the rest of Q4, and other returning characters from the original series. V series Season 2: Shinemon Arc Starting 15 years before the first V series season, this season focuses on Shinemon Nitta, the present manager of Card Capital, attempting to save the shop from becoming a branch of Cardshop: Esuka. V series Season 3: Extra Story -IF- The final season of the V Series. This series is where both IF continuity world Emi Sendou and her fairy companion Shuka and the V continuity Kouji Ibuki and Suiko Tatsunagi team up to fight against the Jammer to save her brother, Aichi Sendou who has become the enemy (similar to Legion Mate).English dub
An English dub co-produced by Ocean Productions (recorded at Blue Water Studios) began airing on Singapore's Okto channel from October 16, 2011, on Animax Asia from January 22, 2012, and on Malaysia's RTM-TV2 channel from November 18, 2012. Dubbed episodes also began being released on YouTube from May 29, 2012. The series can be seen officially on a dedicated channel for it created by Bushiroad, and is available for viewing in most countries without "geo-blocking" and some opening and ending themes are replaced with an English version of an available opening and ending theme due to licensing issues. An English dub of the fifth season ''G'' began airing on YouTube on January 3, 2015, thus skipping over the fourth season ''Legion Mate''.Other media
Manga
A manga series written and illustrated by Akira Itō was announced along with the anime. The first chapter was published on November 26, 2010, in ''Kerokero Ace'' magazine. With ''Kerokero Ace'' ceasing publication with its September 2013 issue, new chapters of the manga continued starting with the first issue of ''Monthly Bushiroad'' magazine. While the manga shares the same characters as the anime, it follows an original storyline and contains many differences from the anime version. Vertical has licensed the manga series and began releasing it in North America on April 29, 2014. A side story referred as ''Episode 0'' was released on May 23, 2013. It is also illustrated by Itō. Its storyline follows Toshiki Kai's childhood.Spin-offs
A spin-off manga series titled ''Mini Vanguard'', also known as , began publishing in Kerokero Ace alongside the original manga. The first chapter of the spinoff was released with the sixth chapter of the main manga series. ''Mini Vanguard'' is a short yonkoma comedy manga by Quily featuring all of the characters as super deformed. Like the original manga series, ''Mini Vanguard'' continued in the first issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine after the final September 2013 issue of Kerokero Ace magazine. ''Mini Vanguard'' was adapted into a flash anime series produced by DLE. It aired from April 6, 2013, to December 14, 2013. The ending theme song of this series is "Mirai Sketch" by Ultra Rare (Suzuko Mimori, Yoshino Nanjō, and Aimi Terakawa). Another spin-off manga series titled began publishing in Monthly Bushiroad magazine. It is supervised by Akira Itō and illustrated by Makoto Kishimizu. Its story focuses on the lore of the ''Cardfight!! Vanguard'' trading card game.Radio show
A talk radio show titled , also known as ''TachiVan'', began airing in 2011 on Hibiki Radio. It is currently split into two shows: the main show which changes its subtitle to coincide with the current anime season and airs on Saturdays, and ''TachiVan Sunday''. It is hosted by Tsubasa Yonaga and Takuya Satō, the voice actors of Aichi and Kai respectively, with occasional guest appearances by various other Japanese voice actors and actresses from the anime series.Novel
A 224-page novel based on the anime series was released in Japan on May 15, 2013. It is written by Bandana Aoi, and the internal illustrations are done by Yōsuke Adachi. The story follows Aichi reaching out to a lonely young boy named .Video games
ALive-action drama
A live-action 90-minute drama titled ''Stand Up! Vanguard'' was aired on May 3, 2012. It is directed by Takashi Motoki, who describes this project as the "first-ever live-action card-game program". It stars Daigo, Shinta Sōma, Haruki Uchiyama, Suzuko Mimori, Nao Nagasawa, Kazuki Namioka, and Kazuhiko Kanayama.Live-action/anime film
A hybrid live-action/anime film was released on September 13, 2014. The live-action segment, , was directed by Takashi Motoki at Ace Crew Entertainment, and stars Daigo, Suzuko Mimori, Taizō Shīna, Takuma Sueno, and others. The anime portion, , was directed by Shin Itagaki at Ultra Super Pictures, and screenplay was made by Mayori Sekijima. It features the animated debut of the character Kouji Ibuki (voiced by Mamoru Miyano). ''Neon Messiah'' made its US premiere on July 4, 2015, at Anime Expo.Reception
In its Winter 2011 Anime Preview Guide, the staff ofReferences
External links
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